Fire chief Annie Sanders calls in the A-Team when a traveling fire department keeps trying to take over her own department, continually getting in their way as they try to put out fires to force her resignation. The A-Team takes the job, despite the attention of new nemesis Colonel Briggs, and discovers that the scheme goes all the way back to notorious gangster Vince Rogan.
This episode contains examples of the following tropes:
- Bridal Carry: B.A. carries a boy over to his mother in his arms after saving him from a fire.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Discussed. Briggs wonders out loud why Hannibal would do something as insane as trying to help Chief Sanders when they're supposed to be on the run. Hannibal says that understanding why would require that he understand the human condition.
- Firefighting Episode: The A-Team join a fire department to defend them against their evil rival.
- Hanging by the Fingers: One of Kelsey's men knocks Murdock off their fire truck during the climactic fight. The guy is trying to pry Murdock's fingers off the truck when Hannibal turns up and cold-cocks him.
- Heroic Fire Rescue: Naturally, the A-Team gets to pull off one of these while helping Sanders' fire department. B.A. in particular comes out a hero, rescuing a boy who was trapped on an upper floor.
- May–December Romance: There's quite a bit of romantic tension between Hannibal and Chief Sanders, even though he looks to be much older than she is.
- Meaningful Echo: After being on the job a while, Hannibal tells Annie Sanders that she's starting to impress him. When she questions his use of the word "starting", he tells her to work on it. Later, they have the same conversation with Annie saying the same thing to Hannibal.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: The team comes to assist Chief Sanders even though they're on the run and almost got caught by Briggs just trying to meet with her. Briggs doesn't care in the slightest. Chief Sanders even says herself that the fact that they were trying to help her should count for something, but Briggs just dismisses her.
- Off with His Head!: Briggs, thinking Hannibal is disguising himself as a dummy in a guillotine, lets the blade drop. It cuts the dummy's head off, but Hannibal was concealing his own head in the shoulders of the dummy and is completely unharmed.
- Screams Like a Little Girl: Murdock lets out a very high-pitched scream after annoying B.A.
- Shout-Out: Murdock tells a member of the antagonistic fire squad, "Remember, only you can prevent forest fires!" the catch phrase of Smokey the Bear.
- Temporary Substitute: Regular antagonist Colonel Decker was replaced by Colonel Briggs, who was simply intended to be a one-off character when Decker's actor, Lance LeGault, had a scheduling conflict. Briggs even mimicked all of Decker's mannerisms.
- Uncovering Relationship Status: Chief Sanders asks B.A. if Hannibal is married. He doesn't have any idea.
